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Finally, someone in the new government has called out Brexit for what it really is. Douglas Alexander, who now serves as the Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security, believes that the decision to leave the EU has created a ‘lack of financial stability’ in Britain.
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His comments have laid bare the reality of trading conditions between the UK and the EU in the years that have followed Brexit. The divorce has led to an increase in bureaucracy and red tape in the exchanging of goods, driving scores of businesses to the brink.
Speaking at a LabourList event on the partnership between business and government, Mr. Alexander claimed that previous governments from 2016 onwards had been operating with a ‘post-imperial delusion’, and slated the Tories for pursuing ‘lesser’ trade deals.
“We’ve had a lot of post-imperial delusion in British trade policy in recent years. Post 2016, there’s this idea that trade deals with Australia and New Zealand – however worthwhile – in any way touch the sides of leaving the deepest single market that we were apart of.” | Douglas Alexander
The minister has been in his post since the start of July, when Labour swept to a large victory in the General Election. However, the party has been reticent to address Brexit in its current form – with leader Keir Starmer preferring to ‘reset relations’ with individual EU nations instead.
Alexander’s return to office comes nine years after he lost his seat in the 2015 General Election. Now with a plumb position in the Cabinet, he appears keen to bring a bit of reality back to the Brexit debate, and the Labour representative has further outlined its downsides:
“That market is called the European Union. Britain’s lack of stability that has been talked about means that the political risk associated with investing in UK is priced in a way more akin to an emerging market, rather than established OECD country.” | Douglas Alexander
